Absconder
by BookMe
Summary: Alice, Bella and Rose have enough of working for the Volturi, but how do you leave the coven without being killed first? Maybe with a little help from 3 real vampire men? ExB, EmxR, JxA. ALL VAMPIRES. Absconder-'Runaway' 'Fugitive'
1. Enimity

_Disclaimer. I own nothing, Stephenie Meyer is the queen bee._

_**1st of March. HAPPY SAINT DAVIDS DAY TO ANYONE IN WALES (or who's scattered around the world and is Welsh)**_

**Alright, so this story was going to go in a completely different direction…it was going to be 'All Human' for a start, but CoryMichael went and twisted my arm and I saw the light. Vampires are the way to go…haha. This is my first 'All Vampires' story, so bare with me while I get to grips with all the talents and such. I think this is going to be a good one. I have a good feeling anyway.**

**Also, I should add, yes, I have deleted 'Divine Intervention'. 35 odd chapters in and I couldn't stand it anymore. I've got it explained on my page a bit better if anyone cares to read. Otherwise, I can just say I won't be looking back on that story again.**

**Some of you might have read 'All Aboard' It's been nominated in two categories for 'The Lion and Lamb Fan fiction Awards' (Link on my profile) Go check out the nominations and vote for what you like, or nominate some more, the FF world is your oyster…**

**Now then, let's crack on with the latest project shall we? **

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Vayden- 'Karma is a professional wrestler'

**Absconder- A 'Runaway', 'Fugitive'.**

**Rosalie POV.**

"Enter my beautiful buttercup." I heard Aro call from the other side of the door.

Alice and Bella had nominated me to be our spokeswoman for tonight. We were in need of a night out, but only Aro could grant us that luxury. I was always the spokeswoman when it came to matters like this, thanks to my…persuasive nature.

I entered the room and strode over to tall backed chair I knew Aro was sat in. The chair was in front of the fire and this was where he liked to sit on the nights when he wanted peace and quiet to work out the finer points of his next mission.

"What can I do for you my Rose?" he asked lazily as he tore his gaze from the crystal glass of blood he was nursing in his hands and looked up at me. His milky eyes locked on my face unwaveringly.

"Alice, Bella and I would like the evening off to go out to town for a few hours." I told him simply while remaining placid. I had learnt long ago when I first met Aro that bursts of emotion such as fury or even pleading only excited him and made him want more. He thrived off of negative feelings only to elevate his own mood.

"Why do you want to go out? Haven't I furnished your home with everything you might need?" he asked gently enough, but I heard the daring tone beneath it.

"Of course. Our home is perfect, but we would like and evening out of the house." I replied while willing him into complying.

"Go ahead then." Aro sighed while waving a hand at me dismissively. I smiled and thanked him while wanting to jump for joy within. I couldn't let Aro see just how happy I was by the news. He would surely change his mind or announce something to bring me back down.

I walked away and went for the door while wondering what I would wear tonight. "Ohh Rosalie, one more thing…" I snapped my mouth shut to suppress a growl. I knew it was too good to be true. We'd have to follow his rules and be home within 45 minutes and 13 seconds again maybe or we could only go to clubs or bars that started with a particular letter. He'd given us these conditions before for his own amusement.

"Yes Aro." I answered calmly with only a few milliseconds of hesitation.

"Demitri will follow you." he said. I could hear the smile in his voice and wanted so badly to slap it from his face. "That is all, you may go." he added. I was dismissed.

I left Aro's wing of the castle and carried onto the far side. Bella, Alice and I were housed in one of the turrets and had been there since Aro found us all those years ago. I scowled as I marched back to the girls, feeling another kick of loneliness at the life I now led. Whatever we did had rules and regulations. We couldn't do anything unless Aro had given his permission first which was doubly frustrating.

I had been 18 when Aro found me. It had been years since I had been brought here and I had seen the change in him. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing and everyone that worked for him knew it.

Alice had been sent to an asylum before we were found. Her visions were considered the work of the devil and so she was packed away, to be forgotten. Luckily for her parents, they had other children to dote upon, so they could afford to forget about one. Alice had long ago shown me a picture of her from when she had long hair. When she was sent to the asylum, her hair was cut in an attempt to drive the devil out, but when the visions continued, they dosed her up with medication instead to keep her lulled. Aro found Alice when he went scouting for new recruits. He knew that some people admitted into asylums did have real gifts and his point was proved when he found Alice. He soon got her into his clutches, bit her and fled the scene after draining a few doctors.

Bella lived with her mother who was flighty and desperate to get rid of her. She found her opportunity to flee when she met younger man and so, she left Bella without looking back.

Bella was strong, but it wasn't long before she found trouble and was attacked by a nomad vampire named James. Unknowingly to Bella, Aro had been watching her for a while, knowing that there was something different about her and he had been right.

She had a physical shield that kept people at an arms length and then the mental block which also kept people out from her mind at all times. Bella was a complicated one, but after training from Aro, she was an expert at lying, being evasive and keeping the upper hand.

Finally, with me, my parents had set me up with a man a little older than me to date. As usual, things went well before they got worse. Aro was the one to find me after the attack and changed me by pure chance. He told me that had I been stronger and had my blood been warmer and more plentiful, he would have drained me. I was weak though when he found me and after recognizing my beauty, he changed me. He thought he might use my beauty to win others of our kind to join his allegiance. All I would have to do was look pretty and it would be like drawing bees to honey he said. I smirked at the thought. When Aro found out that I did have a talent, that I was tenacious by nature and could now make things go my way, he was ecstatic. He had his little collection of pretty's once I joined. I hated Aro, I had wanted to die, but when I met the girls, I found it easier as the time went on.

I opened the large wooden door at the ground floor of our turret. I entered the sparse room before closing the door behind me. The walls were stone-faced and bare and the ground was covered with wood panelling for some sort of warmth, even though, as vampires, we didn't really need it. I made my way up the spiral staircase. The next level up, there was a door on the right which took us to the main level of the castle where we mixed with others occasionally and relaxed. Higher up the stairs, to the third level of the turret, was what I considered home.

The stairs spiralled up high enough that it reached into a corner of the turret. This was the highest point that the staircase went to. Beyond the door in front of me, was the comfort I sought whenever I was away from it.

The door creaked open as I pushed it and closed with a bang. "Rose? I've got our clothes laid out ready, come on!" I heard Alice shout from above.

"Be right there!" I called back as I kicked off my shoes. Our turret was circular, and everything was made to measure thanks to Aro and his wealth.

Upon entering the door, you came into the living room. On the far side of the room was the kitchen and dinning room on a raised platform. Both area's were open plan and spacious. To the right, was a large office for us to do our work in and a bathroom. To the left was a small scale spiral staircase which took you up to the next level. Two massive stone poles kept the upper level from falling down as it was designed as a sort of balcony. From the living room, you could look up and see someone walking along the landing which was lined with a wooden banister. Along this landing, there were three doors. My room, Bella's and finally Alice's.

I went up stairs and to my room. I passed my bed and closet and went straight for the bathroom. I showered quickly before wrapping up in towels and getting ready.

Alice had chosen my outfit. Skin tight black leggings, a pair of heeled black boots and a top that Alice must have mistaken as a dress. I dressed in the clothes, knowing that it would be foolish to defy the little sprite. I soon got my hair sorted, my war paint on and relaxed back down stairs, waiting for Alice and Bella to finish even though I'd traipsed in after them.

"Rosalie?" I heard Alice snap as I heard a pair of heels clicking along the landing upstairs.

"Down here!" I called while waving at her from the comfy sofa I was sat on.

"Ohh, hey. Good job with Aro, you did well with him." Alice praised me before tapping her head. As if I'd forget that she'd have seen the whole thing happen in her mind once Aro had made up his mind.

"What do you want?" I asked as I twirled a stand of my hair between my fingers.

"Come up here so I can see you." Alice ordered as she leant her forearms on the banister.

"Are you going to throw your hair down for me Rapunzel? Because I'm not climbing those stairs again." I grinned as Alice stood up to her full, 4ft and a few fractions, height and glared down at me.

She pouted at me before softening her face and shrugging. "Sit there then, you must look good, I chose your outfit…we'll be down in a few minutes." she announced before dancing off, back to Bella.

Alice and Bella soon came down stairs as Alice had declared and then, we waited. Alice was dressed in a tight black mini dress which puffed out at the bottom. She wore a pair of boot styled heels and some silver jewellery. Bella was clad in skin tight jeans, heels, and a band tee. Bella must have bargained for one item of her choice and chosen the top. I was sure that Alice wouldn't have let out in that ragged looking thing otherwise.

"Where is that asshole..?" Bella snapped impatiently after a few minutes of waiting.

Alice sighed heavily and stood up before scowling her pixie face up and sneering. "3, 2, 1...Ding dong, the prick is here…" Sure enough, the doorbell rang just as Alice finished her little rant. Bella and I followed Alice to the door and out of it.

"Come on, move it…" Demitri snapped as he stalked back down the stairs.

I bit my tongue and followed. There were so many insults that I wanted to throw at him, but I couldn't choose one so I remained silent. When we reached the garage, Alice, Bella and I slipped into the back seat wordlessly while Demitri revved the car to goad us.

We were soon flying down the road. All three of us knew that Demitri was speeding in order to seem intimidating, but each of us also knew that he would slow down as to not risk getting a speeding ticket or even get one tiny scratch on the car. If he did any of those, he'd be in the dog house, or out of a job, depending on Aro's mood.

Demitri barked for directions to where we wanted to go as soon as we made it into the heart of town. I snapped the directions right back at him before burning a scowl at him through the little rear view mirror.

Thankfully, our ordeal was soon over and we were roughly told to get out. We did as we were told and quickly made our way to the front of the line at one of the newest clubs in town. No words were exchanged, there were no second looks or queries as the bouncers let us in. The crowd outside in the queue moaned and protested, but there was nothing they could say to stop us being let into the club. There were quite a few benefits when you worked for the Volturi.

"I'm going to the bar, what do you want?" Bella asked as she pulled a $10 out.

"Anything pink…" Alice replied before slipping away through the crowd for a table.

"Anything with alcohol in it." I said before following the little one's path.

**Bella POV.**

As I made my way through the bodies to the bar, I smirked. Years of being victimised in the power mad coven had made me bitter, at times. I also knew that my shield gift was very useful in the situation I was about to stir up. I was often praised by Aro for being so good at lying and for having the perfect poker face, even though, I could see the fear behind his eyes. He was scared of me lying to him and him not realising it until it was too late. That was clear to see.

My shield also meant that I could keep things to myself. There were no mind games that worked on me, no tricks that could make me slip up. Aro had even gone and hooked me up to a lie detector once, for the fun of it. I had lied through my teeth the whole time, but the lie detector caught nothing. That was why I was always the one to talk and lay out the generous laws and regulations to new covens. I would come across as trustworthy and honest. Rosalie would be the one to negotiate, to barter thanks to her will-bending quality and make sure that Aro got the best from victimising smaller covens.

I got to the bar and perched myself on a barstool before catching the eye of a hot young bartender.

"What can I get you beautiful?" he asked as he leant way over the bar.

The music wasn't that loud, but this guy was flirting. I smiled at the poor guy pityingly, but I was sure he took it in another way. The little guy thought I was flirting back, bless him. If only he knew I had teeth sharper than the blade of a knife and could slice through him faster than he could bat an eye.

"I'd like something pink, something strong and for me…" I bit my bottom lip for effect. "I'll have whatever you make me…" I declared before sitting back and watching the guy do his job.

"Got a drink for me Isabella?" Demitri's creepy voice sent shivers through my spine as he grumbled at my ear.

"Fuck off Demitri." I answered him shortly while keeping my back to him.

I felt a sharp pain in my upper arm as he grasped it in a tight hold. "Don't talk to me like that-" he hissed in my ear.

"Now, now… Demitri…" I cut him off and turned to look at him. He didn't let go of my arm, but slackened his hold a little. I could see he was mad. His eyes were dark and menacing, his face in a deep scowl. "You remember what happened last time when Aro twigged as to how our home got smashed up, don't you?" I goaded him, teased him. It took all my energy to keep cool as I spoke to him. I remembered the night when I had been too shocked, too overwhelmed and caught off guard to get my shield up fast enough and it was his entire fault.

I continued, "I'm surprised he let you out. Aren't you usually with the little kids Demitri? Hmmm? Drinking warm blood and reading sunshine and lollipops stories?" I asked as my eyes bore into his black as thunder scowl. I laughed in his face as he let go of my arm sharply and stalked away.

He would keep an eye on us and treat us like shit for the rest of the night, but at least I got something out of it. The asshole had been taken down a peg or two for now.

"Here you go, something pink, something strong, and something from me…" the barman's joyful voice sang behind me.

I turned with a picture perfect smile on my face and thanked him. I held the $10 note out just in front of my chest while crooking my finger for him to come closer. He leant over and I met him in the middle. I made sure to let my breath tickle his ear and my lips just brush his skin while I spoke.

"Thank you for the drinks. Hey, how old are you? Twenty?" I asked as I reached out to play with the collar of his shirt.

"I'm um…twenty two…" he replied back.

"Hmmm…you're over twenty. I'm twenty, my friend Alice, she's twenty and you know who else is twenty? My friend Rose, she's twenty…" I said quickly, making sure he heard every repeated word.

"That's…ughh…" I sucked his earlobe into my mouth quickly just for the fun of it before sitting back and handing him he $10. I loved that I knew how close this sucker was to a bite and he was clueless. "Wow…" he finished before taking my money and tilling in the drinks I had.

He glanced over at me as the till opened. I looked him up and down before licking my lips slowly and looking away. I hoped my hustle had worked seeing as I'd put so much time and bother into it. I had enough money, Aro paid extremely well, but I always loved the challenge of swindling money from half-wits.

"Here you go, see you later…" the barman said huskily as he handed me over $10 of change. Sucker. He'd fallen for my trick. I'd repeated the number twenty enough times for him to be confused and think of the $10 I had given him as a $20.

"Thanks, see you…" I threw him a wink before collecting our drinks and carefully making my way back to the girls. I threw my shield up a little as I walked so no one could bump into me and make me spill the drinks.

I sat on one of the chairs between Alice and Rose and handed them their respective drinks.

"Demitri was close to smacking you. You're lucky he didn't Bella…" Alice chastised me as she sipped her pink drink.

"Come on Alice, that asshole needs a little humble pie after the beatings he dished out on us…" Rosalie declared before continuing. "Being made to look after the juniors for 9months wasn't exactly the punishment I thought Aro would dish out."

I agreed with Rosalie. Demitri was given a lax punishment. It was common knowledge that neither of us three got on with him, but Aro had been afraid since we arrived that we would run off and so, he had all but shackled us with Demitri. One night after too many wind ups from other members of the coven and us, Demitri had let out the rage he held against us and was soon reprimanded and sent to baby-sit the juniors once we gave Aro the ultimate ultimatum. We wanted Demitri punished, or we would walk.

The 9months had gone by too fast and tonight was his first night back with us. Felix had done a fine job of stalking us during Demitri's absence, but Aro had promised that Demitri would be given a skeleton shift with us so we didn't have to be around him too much. I knew that the night 9months ago hit Rosalie the most. She never said a word, but I saw the utter fear in her eyes as she was hit in turn. The little fuck knew Rose had been attacked, raped, and left to die and yet he dished out the same to her as he did to Alice and myself. Neither of us would forgive him for what he did, we would only strive to make his time with us hell.

**Alice POV.**

Over the past few weeks, I had been making different decisions in my mind, over and over and over again to see the results in my mind. I wasn't sure what exactly would be the best move, but I knew that things had to change soon; otherwise, the result for us would be dire.

"Ladies, I think its time to bail out…" I said conversationally enough as I let the decision click in my mind. I froze and let the familiar vision come to me. I had the same vision every time I made a mental decision to leave. It was simply better than any other alternative.

"Do you think its time to bail out or do you know its time?" Bella asked calmly enough as she toyed with her drink, looking mildly curious.

"I know its time to go." I said simply. They both knew what that meant.

"Hmmm…I'm in. This life is getting old and I don't like the next mission, I really don't want a part in it." Rosalie declared seriously.

Slaughtering a few covens to remind the others of our kind around the world that the Volturi were the leaders wasn't what either of us considered fair or humane. I knew when I first heard of the mission that Bella and Rose wouldn't like it either and I was right. How did Aro expect us to slaughter our kind when we couldn't even kill mere mortals for blood?

The three of us were ridiculed for a long time about our chosen diet. We drank animal blood in stead of human. I had seen long ago that this was the path to take, the kinder one. Neither Bella, Rose, nor I saw the appeal in killing humans, but the Volturi coven did, especially Jane and Alec, the baby blood suckers.

The coming battles would be pivotal for us. We had never been in a battle against innocents before, only against those who threatened to expose our existence. I already knew from my visions that it would be a kill, or be killed scenario if we hanged around here and then refused to fight. The Volturi didn't take too lightly at the loyalty to them being devalued. Poor Chelsea believed that we were loyal to the Volturi thanks to her gift of strengthening or weakening bonds, but she had no idea that after years of practicing, Bella had managed to fool her and wean us off of her hold. Bella hadn't managed to sever the bond, it would be obvious if that happened over night, but it would be easy for her to do so when the time came.

"Then we're agreed?" Bella asked as she glanced between me and Rosalie. We both nodded in agreement. "Good, now how the fuck do we get away from Aro without being killed first?" Bella asked seriously as she sat back in her chair and looked form me to Rosalie expectantly.

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**Bella POV.**

The moment we were back in our turret, all three of us ran to our rooms to change, before returning to the living room to plan on the floor in front of a roaring fire.

"We need to get away from here and Aro can't know…" I said as soon as we were all settled. "We'll have to act normal. If he suspects something, he'll want to read our thoughts and he hasn't don't that in a while, to us three anyway." I said.

"True enough. He hasn't read our minds since you, Rose freaked out at him for invading your privacy…that must have been a few weeks ago now…" Alice said as she played with her hair absently.

"Yeah, maybe he'll leave us alone, but what do we do if Aro touches one of us" Rosalie asked.

"We hope he won't." I muttered. "If we can keep the pretence of being loyal, planning this slaughter of the covens, he shouldn't have any reason to want to read our minds."

"If that fails, Bella, you'll just have to throw up your shield to stop Aro getting to us and we'll have to make our excuses or flee then and there." Alice pointed out. "I have another idea, but I'll need to think it over and try my best to see what happens before we start contemplating it…" Alice muttered while looking distracted by her idea.

"Okay, look, in my opinion, what we really need to do soon is plan how we actually get away from here and where the hell can we escape to. Demitri's annoying gift will be trouble." Rosalie pointed out, sounding and looking very peeved.

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I'm sorry if there were some spelling mistakes and stuff in there, but I wanted to get it done.

**P.S…Check out my baby 3shot, Mayday. Chapter 1's up now, there will be more on the way. (Yes I'm shameless…but it doesn't hurt to try…) ha-ha**

**Please review…:D**


	2. The Trial

_Disclaimer. I own nothing; Stephenie Meyer is the queen bee._

**So, here's the next chapter. I do have the next six chapters half done, finished and ready for a once over or planned. With this story, I'm writing the chapters as I see them, not forcing myself to write the chapters in the correct order. I'm finding that this works for me. It's not so boring and I can write things in more detail when the vision of it all is still fresh in my mind. This is what happened with this chapter anyway. I was working on chapter 4 or 5 when this idea popped into my head. I quickly wrote some notes and wrote it all out pretty quickly. :D**

**I hope you like this chapter, personally I do, especially one part. It was interesting/fun to write.**

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_A Perfect Circle-'The Outsider'_

**Alice POV.**

I stretched out on the bed and span to lie on my back, feeling everything with my senses, especially the bed covers twisting under me into a crinkled mess. The sun shone high in the sky, shining bright sunlight into my room, but I already knew that we'd have clouds in under an hour. I remained where I was, feeling the warmth of the sun touch me. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to see the strong sparkle of my skin, instead, I pretended for a moment that I wasn't hard and cold, but a soft, warm human.

That didn't last long. I caught a vision of the great hall in commotion and could see that a lot more people than usual were bustling about in it, which was odd. The great hall wasn't usually that busy unless there was something going on.

I quickly got up off the bed and shut my laptop down; regrettably letting it take away the tens of shopping pages I had been browsing through. Once I was dressed, I banged Bella and Rosalie's doors before going down stairs. I slid down the banister, making sure to jump off the end so I could throw in a mid air flip, before landing on the large stuffed sofa.

"Ten points little miss acrobat." I heard Bella call from above. I waved my arm lazily in an act of superiority.

"I'd give it a 9." Rose declared as she and Bella descended the stairs. I gave her an inquiring look. "You landed in my spot, now move over…" she announced as she reached me. She waved her hands at me impatiently until I had scooted over. Rosalie took her seat in what had become hers over the years, while Bella sat on a tall backed chair beside us.

"There's something going on today." I told them before letting them in on my vision from a few minutes ago.

"Should we go and see what's going on?" Bella asked as she inspected her nails.

Rosalie stood up and ran up stairs before returning mere seconds later with three black cloaks thrown over her arm. "Sure, let's go." She said before passing us our cloaks.

All members of the Volturi had to wear their cloaks especially when they went outside. We got away with wearing them around the castle for the most part and we didn't have to wear them here, in our turret, but today, the sun was shining and we needed the cover if we went outside.

Bella and Rosalie followed me out of our 'home' and down the staircase to the next level. I unlocked and pushed open the large wooden door which opened up to the great hall.

Just as I had seen in my vision, tens of people were scurrying about at the same time, each of them generally going in the same direction.

Bella locked the door behind us, closing our wing out from the other vampires' reach. Obviously, any vampire could break down our door by a flick of a wrist, but that would also be breaking Aro's rule. He'd granted us the right to privacy and so anyone that breached it would be killed.

"Any idea what's going on little one?" Rosalie asked me as we continued to watch the scene.

I closed my eyes for a moment and let myself see what would soon be occurring. "The amphitheatre. There's going to be a trial." I said before letting the vision cut off and opening my eyes.

I opened my eyes to find Rosalie taking to Gianna a few meters away and walking back with her, toward us.

"Hi Alice, Bella." Gianna smiled as she greeted us.

"So who's on trial?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't even know myself. Aro sent someone to tell me to get things organised for a trial. The wives aren't coming, so it can't be a big important one." She informed us as she flipped through papers she was holding in her arm. She pulled one sheet out and pulled a biro from behind her ear to scribble something down. The three of us could see she was busy, wanting to get everything ready, so we let her go to carry on.

"Do you want to go and see who's on trial?" Bella asked as we watched Gianna disappear down the long stone staircase beyond.

"I do, I want to see what the fuss is all about…" Rosalie declared as she looked curiously at the crowd of excited vampires who were all headed in the same direction.

We walked through the crowd and toward the other side of the room. Everyone was going down the large gloomy stone staircase and we soon joined them. The stairs went all the way down to the lowest part of the castle where the air was heavy with dampness.

We all exited through a large arch which was usually closed up with a large steel gate, covered in spikes to stop any human stupid and unlucky enough to have managed to make their way onto the grounds.

The path that stretched out before us took us straight to the great amphitheatre which sat in the centre of the grounds and was centuries old. Aro, Marcus and Caius loved to hold their trials here for atmosphere, and then the more private trials in their own private quarters in the castle itself.

This was obviously not a large, important trial, but it was also not something that Aro had decided in mere seconds. He would usually hear some news, decide the vampire's outcome with Marcus and Caius and they would send one of the guards to destroy the person.

As I had seen in my mind earlier this morning, the sunlight was being covered by the clouds, only managing to peek out occasionally. We all threw our hoods up as we were supposed to and carried on after all the other hooded vampires.

Just outside the large stadium, we caught sight of Alec and Jane playing with a ball made out of solid gold. No doubt another trinket from Aro to his little hellions.

"What are they doing?" Bella asked as we noticed that they were talking to a vampire we weren't too familiar with. He was a new addition to the coven and had obviously not heard about the twins before or he would not be talking to them right now.

"Let's go help the fool…" Rosalie sighed before taking us of the path and over the grass toward the threesome.

Alec and Jane were dressed in old styled clothes, obviously well made with expensive materials. The twins liked to dress in clothes which looked as if they came from the era they had been changed in. I wasn't sure if they did it because they liked those sorts of clothes, or if they did it to add to their fear factor. It couldn't be denied that the two of them with blood red eyes looked creepy at the best of times with their unwavering, silent stares. When they had their strange clothes on, they resembled some haunting ghosts and along with the screams that Jane pulled from them, only made them seem more frightening.

"Hey, tweedle dee and tweedle dumb…" Rosalie never had any patience with the both of them ever since Jane managed to catch her out and inflict the illusion of pain into her. Thankfully Bella had arrived to stop it within a few seconds, but Rosalie had never loosened the grudge she held on the two.

Alec and Jane both ignored Rosalie's little insult. I saw what would happen before I had time to speak; the image came on so suddenly.

Thankfully, it cut off before it had ended anyway. Jane was about to shock Rosalie but she'd managed to will the little girl into averting it to Alec who then began to writhe on the floor. Jane soon stopped and Bella had obviously thrown her shield around us if Jane's frown was anything to go by.

"Come on, you'll keep away from these kids if you have any sense…" Bella told the innocent vampire before we began to walk away. I turned I time to see Rosalie smack the back of the twins head and chastise them for being so twisted.

I rolled my eyes. I knew that Alec and Jane would be after Rosalie worse than ever now after that degrading action and remark. Bella would have to stick to her side like glue for the next few days at least.

Soon, we were up in the stands, but right back, away from everyone else. We could hear and see everything perfectly enough from the back, but we had no desire to be down there, in the middle of it all. Opposite us and down some we could clearly see Marcus, Caius and Aro, who had his lap dog, Renata behind him, keeping him safe in her own shield which was similar to Bella's.

The sun somehow had the cheek to shine down on the elders, making their strange, old, thin skin shine brightly. Their blood red eyes were still clear to see, even through the glimmer from their skin.

After a few minutes, there was a bubble of commotion below as someone was obviously brought forward into the main stage at the very centre of the floor.

**Bella POV.**

Each time I came here, I could just imagine a gladiator's tournament taking place and all the blood being spilt. Right now, a young vampire was being dragged between two large guards, into the centre of the pit.

The young vampire was a young girl of around fifteen who had chin length dark hair. She was struggling against the guards, desperate to get away. I noticed that behind the girl and the two guards restraining her, there was a fire being brought to life.

"It's over." Alice whispered beside me. We didn't need Alice's visions to tell us that. If a fire was lit before the trial had even begun, it was clear that the elders had made their decision already and only conducted this circus for the theatrics.

The three of us slumped back in our seats as the atmosphere around us crackled with tension. The proceedings were about to begin and I could already see people in the stands exchanging money, placing bets.

The farce soon began. Usually when the theatre was empty, any noise would echo, but today, with the stands mostly full, Aro's voice was amplified with the sound waves hitting the stone structure. Beside Aro, Marcus and Caius both looked as though they were tolerating the show but not really interested in what was going on.

"You risked our exposure today! How do you justify your actions?" Aro shouted, his voice reaching us clear and cold.

"I…I…didn't mean to…she just had, the scent, I had to have it…" the girl replied frantically as her head moved around, her eyes obviously darting around the place.

I could see the fire behind her growing larger and larger. By the end, this would be a smoke signal to any other vampires in the area that the Volturi were still active and still very much in control.

"You had to have it? Child, you are weak!" Aro snarled, throwing the crowd into an uproar of babble. "Whoever was foolish enough to create you didn't bother with keeping you and I can see why. You are weak!" Aro repeated as the girl began to sob and struggle once more.

Caius leant over to Aro and whispered something to him before waving at a guard to come to him. Caius whispered to the guard also before the hooded figure left on Caius' little mission.

"Who created you?" Aro shouted quickly, shocking the girl into silence. The guards on either side of her shook her and hissed, only making the girl more afraid.

"She left me…she changed me and left me!" the girl declared.

"I want a name you impertinent child!" Aro roared, causing the crowd to bubble up with whispers.

"I don't remember…" the young girl whimpered as she bowed her head, looking defeated already.

"Ohhh no…" Alice sighed seconds before Alec and Jane came into view behind the elders. "As if killing her wasn't enough…" Alice added before planting her hands over her face and resting her elbows on her knees.

"Alice…" Rosalie whispered. "I'll let you know when it's over." She said as she gently rubbed Alice's back and looked at me with a pitying look. It was bad enough for us to see things, but Alice had to see them before hand and know that there was nothing she could do to help it.

"Don't bother, I can see it all when I close my eyes anyway" Alice sighed heavily.

Rosalie continued to rub Alice's back while I looked around the theatre. I caught sight of a lone person to the side of the stadium, looking down upon the proceedings with an expressionless face. He was young, blonde and well dressed. Obviously a vampire, but not a nomad. He looked oddly familiar but he wasn't close enough for me to get a good look at him.

I caught him shaking his head and looking disappointed before he turned and walked away. I turned my head to look back at the trial in time to see Alec and Jane jump from beside Aro and down to the pit, landing a few feet from the young newborn.

My mind worked over time as I wondered who the man was and why he was there, watching, only to leave before it got to the 'good part'.

Alice soon sat up and watched the performance with us, knowing exactly when to look away.

Jane walked up to stand in front of the girl while Alec sat on the floor, spinning the golden ball in his hands, looking the picture of innocence that he was not. Jane cocked her head to the side as she studied the girl before giving the guards a wave, telling them to move out of the way. They let the young girl stand alone as they disappeared to the sides of the pit.

"What's your name?" Jane asked sweetly, throwing the young vampire into a false sense of security.

"Bree." The girl replied nervously as she shivered, with fear I was sure.

"Who changed you Bree?" Jane asked in a conversational tone as she played with the bow on her dress.

"I…I told them…I don't remember her name…" she replied meekly.

"Ohhh…well if you can't remember…" Jane began kindly before shrugging her shoulders. Jane was acting perfectly, looking sincere. She was fooling Bree and the poor thing had no idea of what her outcome would be, yet. I watched as Jane lowered her face as if to study the bow before her head began to slowly rise with a devilish look on her face and her eyes shining red. "Well…I suppose that's not good enough." she sneered with an evil smile before Bree began to squirm and shriek on the floor.

Aro laughed from the stand while Marcus and Caius looked mildly amused. The crowd in the stands cheered and murmured, creating a buzz that stirred the tension in the amphitheatre.

Jane stopped her torture after a few long seconds and clasped her hands behind her back while looking down at Bree who was now a crumpled body on the floor, breathing hard. Jane stepped forward and gently kicked Bree's back, obviously a sign that she wanted the girl to sit up so she could do the same to her again.

"I can't hear…I can't hear anything…what have you done to me?" Bree screeched as she scrambled to a sitting position.

A look of awe and complete pleasure passed over Jane's face before she turned to look at her brother who was still sat, spinning the gold ball, now with an amused look on his face. He had obviously cut off her sense of hearing.

Jane walked slowly to stand behind her brother and planted her hands on his shoulders. The twins were sick and twisted and obviously loved every minute of this game that Aro had let them play.

Jane attacked again, sending Bree flat on her back and screaming again as she smacked the floor, obviously in agony.

This time when Bree sat up, she couldn't see, and so the game continued and Alec would alternate and change things around so Bree couldn't see, then feel anything she touched or see anything.

Eventually, when Bree was exhausted, Aro declared that she could be killed. The guards returned and killed her, pulling her to pieces before throwing her into the fire.

"Let that be a warning to anyone who risks our exposure!" Aro shouted before he got up and led the way out of the stone structure.

The tension and atmosphere in the place went up with the smoke and was soon gone. The stadium quickly emptied and we followed after them.

"I think we could do with going out tonight again…" Rosalie said in a joking voice, although I could sense her seriousness also.

"I think we could, if only to get away from the castle. Everyone's going to be talking about this for days." Alice said gloomily as we left the grounds and entered the lower part of the castle where we had exited earlier.

We ascended the stairs silently in case some busy body would hear us talking. Rosalie and Alice headed on up to our tower, but I stayed behind to talk to Gianna who had called for me.

"That new vampire you saved from Alec and Jane before the trial wanted me to say thank you." I nodded, accepting the thanks while looking around the large hall which was now practically empty compared to how it had been before the trial.

"Ohh…I have packages for Alice behind the reception desk…" Gianna informed me.

"I'll take them to her." I told her. She led the way to her desk and bent down to retrieve the goods. I remained leaning on the desk and couldn't believe my luck as I caught sight of the same young, familiar blonde man leaving and walking past the desk.

"Goodbye Gianna" The man called as he continued on his way, throwing me a smile as he went.

"Ohhh!" I heard a bump as Gianna went to get up. She stood, rubbing her head with her heart pounding frantically as she shouted back "Bye Carlisle!"

I gave her an inquiring look. She looked flushed and a mess, and yet like a flustered schoolgirl. The blood beneath her dark skin pooled in her cheeks and I could swear that I could feel the heat from her blush.

"Don't say anything…" she quickly told me as she smoothed her hair and clothes.

"I wasn't going to." I lied before biting my tongue. She was embarrassed enough, I wouldn't say anymore. The man, Carlisle, had been handsome, so I couldn't blame her for her reaction.

She soon sorted the packages for me and handed me all seven. I carried one under one arm and balanced the rest on one hand. If one tipped and fell, I could thankfully catch it quickly with my free hand thanks to my speed.

"Hey, Gianna, do you know if Aro's in a good mood?" I asked as I was about to leave. The door that Carlisle had come from opened suddenly, startling the young woman beside me.

"Ohhh…" Gianna gasped before turning to plonk herself on the chair behind the desk.

"Get me Sulpicia." Aro demanded as he stood in the doorway. His angry voice was patched perfectly with the angry look he had on his twisted face. Renata was at his side and looking bitchy as always.

"Of course…your wife…okay…" Gianna muttered as she urgently wrote down the order on a note.

"Aro, could Alice, Rose and I go out tonight?" I asked casually as I could manage before hiding behind the packages and waiting on tenterhooks for a reply.

"Yes, go, get out of my sight…Felix will go with you…" he snapped before vanishing into his wing of the castle.

"Bella, I have to go…" Gianna called as she grabbed her note, reminding her to get hold of Aro's wife.

"See you later" I said as I left.

"Ohhh god, he's in such a bad mood…" Gianna's worried voice reached me even as the young woman ran away in the other direction.

I headed back to Alice and Rosalie, wondering what that man, Carlisle had been doing here and what could possibly have put Aro in such a black mood.

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**Reviewing time...*wink***


	3. Meetings

_Disclaimer- I own nothing._

**Drum roll….yes, here come the boys!**

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_Chiodos-'All nereids beware'_

**Edward POV.**

"I'll fill up the car." Carlisle declared as we all got out of his Mercedes. Thankfully, the gas station we were at had a canopy roof, saving us from the blistering sun that shone down ahead. It was risky for us all to be out on a day like today, but we were in Italy, not somewhere that rained almost endlessly. If the sun wanted to shine in this place, it shone.

Carlisle handed me some money before he went to fill up the car. I followed my brothers into the small store, ready to pay once Carlisle had finished. In the mean time, we browsed around in the tiny place.

Jasper and I settled at the news paper stand while Emmett walked around the store before heading back outside.

'_Fuck…can't afford that either…A potato dog?…That can't be right…'_

The 'voice' I heard was familiar to me. It aggravated me that I hadn't figured out who it was immediately. I turned my head and the familiar scent hit me mere milliseconds before I caught sight of the familiar face.

"Jacob…" I called his name as I walked away from Jasper and toward our old friend.

"Edward, hey Jasper…" Jake nodded at Jasper who was still flipping through a paper at human speed. Behind me, Jasper nodded back in greeting before turning the paper he was flipping through, sideways. I winced as I saw what he saw and quickly blocked it out.

Jake had left his home, which was near ours a few weeks ago. He had gone looking for other wolves just out of interest and so he could go and see a bit of the world at the same time. No one knew where he had gone exactly because he had asked to be left alone, but I could already tell that he was glad to have people he knew around again.

"So your travels brought you here?" I asked as my nose crinkled at his smell. I could hear Jake's thoughts and he was thinking along the same lines as I was. The time apart hadn't made us smell any different than before.

"Yeah, I've been around the Alps, investigated a few volcanoes too, just for the fun of it," he grinned before continuing, "But I've started to work my way back now."

Jake looked as healthy as he had been when he left, the only thing different about him now was that his hair had grown a little longer. A few weeks had passed since he left and so it was no shock to see him looking a little unkempt.

"How are you getting home?" I asked as I handed Jasper the money Carlisle had given me. I had heard his thoughts. He had filled the car up and was now outside, silently watching Emmett who was winding up a dog.

"Well, I can't carry money very easily because of the changing and running thing…but if I find the odd bit of money, I use that to get me places and some decent food and then I just run. I'll run as far as I can, then maybe hitch a lift…" he shrugged, seeming carefree.

I however, could read his thoughts. I wasn't sure if he'd forgotten the fact, but he wasn't doing a great job of hiding anything from me anyway, even as he put on a relaxed front.

I knew he was worrying about Billy and wanting to get home to him. He worried about his father even though he was all right at home with the other members of the pack looking out for him. In Jakes mind though, he was resolved; he knew he'd have to wait a while longer before seeing his father and he was ready to do so.

I could hear Carlisle telling me that it was time to go. I handed Jacob a few dollars that I had on me and told him to get some food before I went outside. Jasper was leant against the car with Carlisle, but he had large aviator sunglasses on, hiding his eyes. I knew he was laughing and enjoying the show though, even if his face gave nothing away.

Emmett was a few meters away, glaring at a large chained up dog as he growled at it so deeply that no human could hear. Luckily, there was no one else out here; otherwise, I was sure that Emmett would have to be driven away from the canine. The dog snapped back at him and growled, which only made Emmett laugh some more.

Carlisle thought in a fatherly way, that we could give Emmett a few more minutes of fun before we had to go. I agreed before telling him about Jake and how I knew he wanted to go home to see Billy.

'_I'll get some money, arrange a flight. Why don't you three take Jacob with you tonight? It'll give me time to get things arranged and in order.'_

I nodded my head in agreement before going to the entrance of the store where Jacob was stood, eating and watching Emmett tease the slobbering dog with amusement on his face.

"He hasn't changed has he…?" Jacob asked rhetorically. I shook my head in response anyway before telling him that he could stay in our company tonight before he could be flown home tomorrow.

He went and thanked Carlisle while I tried to get through to Emmett and have him stop teasing the dog. In the end, I gave up and stalked to the car silently. I gave Jasper a pointed look and by the time I was in the car, the dog was lying on the floor, utterly docile and Emmett was dragging his feel solemnly toward the car.

**Carlisle POV.**

I had been well over due to visit my old acquaintances, but now that we were in Italy, I decided to go and see them. I wasn't exactly looking forward for the visit, but I knew that once it was over and done with, it was fine and it was never as bad as I imagined it anyway.

I left Edward, Emmett, Jacob and Jasper in the hotel we had been staying in for the last few nights and went to the Volterra castle in search of my old friends.

As soon as I arrived, I realised that there was something going on today. The guards let me in unceremoniously, without a word seeing as they already knew who I was and I soon made my way into the great hall which was the heart of the castle. The guards were all busy following each other like a flock of sheep out of the back staircase which lead down to the grounds at the back of the castle. Only a small collection of people were left when I headed for the staircase, including Gianna.

"Carlisle! What are you doing here?" The young woman asked as she came toward me. I shook hands with her and explained that I had come to see my old friends.

"There's a trial on now." Gianna explained before she offered, "I can take you somewhere to wait for them…"

"No thank you, I'll go out and see for myself." I replied before going toward the stairs. "You are staying here I suppose?" I asked over my shoulder as I realised that Gianna hadn't moved.

"It wouldn't be very safe for me to be out there with all those excited vampires now would it…?" she replied teasingly before assuring me that she would be in the very same room when I came back if I wanted anything.

"Thank you." I replied before leaving and going down the familiar stone stairs. I left the castle, crossed the grounds and made my way up to the stands quickly, anxious to see what Aro had conjured up for today.

A trial Gianna had called it. I had seen these before. They were for theatrical purposes only, for entertainment and to break up the dull monotony of the daylight hours. Aro was sat like a king beside Marcus and Caius and Renata stood near them, looking as though she was the queen she longed to be, but never would be.

In the centre of the pit below, stood two guards and a young girl, obviously a newborn from her restless disposition and from the fact that she had to have two guards holding her in place.

Aro goaded the poor girl, scaring her for the crowd's entertainment. The moment I caught sight of Alec and Jane joining the elders, I knew there was nothing that could be done for the poor newborn. I had seen the large fire that burned, but I had hoped pitifully that it was a scare tactic. Now that the twins were being let out to play, I knew that Aro wanted to girl tortured before she would be put out of her misery and killed.

As I stood there, watching silently, I noticed three hooded figures at the far end of the amphitheatre. They had obviously distanced themselves today from the heart of the commotion, but I didn't know why. At this moment, I wished I had Edward with me to let me know what these three figures were thinking and to know who they were.

I left the stand, feeling disappointed that Aro could still play such games after the centuries he had lived for. The man never ceased to amaze me with the way his mind worked.

I was soon back in the castle and planning to go and wait for Aro in his quarters, but I was waylaid by Gianna upon entering the great hall."So, Carlisle, you haven't visited in a few years now…" she said warmly as she flipped through some papers in her arms.

"You know I don't usually visit this often…I'm only here because I thought it would be rude not to visit seeing as I was in the city." I told her with a smile before turning to look around. Nothing had changed in the years since I had last been here and it didn't really surprise me.

"Well, sorry you came on such a bad day…" Gianna smiled apologetically to me while gesturing to the general direction of the coliseum. "I had no idea he had this planned…" she sighed wearily as she scowled, her beautiful face pulling together.

"I'm sorry also." I replied before letting her know I was going to head over to Aro's quarters.

"I'd go with you…but I think I'll have to go and hide for a few minutes if the newest members of the coven come back in. All that blood lust makes it a little hard for me to work here sometimes…" she rolled her eyes as she spoke casually. The young woman had worked here for years, showing that she really had been quite young when she had first been brought here.

"I'll see you before I go no doubt." I called over my shoulder before walking away and disappearing down a long dark stone corridor. Aro had gone and wielded his power today. Maybe Caius and Marcus didn't look that interested in it all, but I had known them long enough to notice the hidden gleam in their eyes.

The poor newborn girl had definitely been tortured before being killed. I checked my watch and saw that only a few minutes had passed since I had been at the coliseum and the torture must have still been going on.

I reached the elder's chambers and sat in one for the intricately detailed chairs. Somewhere nearby to the room I was in, I could hear the familiar voices of Sulpicia and Athendora, Aro and Caius's mates chatting and clearly bossing someone below their station to do something.

Those two were trophy brides and I had never liked them. I had got along with them well enough, but there was no loss between us when I left Aro, Caius and Marcus to go off alone.

The time went on quickly enough and I listened to the two brides with little interest while also thinking over the plane tickets I purchased for Jacob upon returning back to the hotel earlier.

Soon, I was joined by Aro who was obviously in high spirits.

"Carlisle, this is unexpected, your boys have seen sense and are joining us at last." His tone of voice left no question where there should have been. He'd jumped the gun and now I would have to shoot him down.

Aro seemed to glide fluidly toward me while Renata stepped back a little at the wave or Aro's hand.

"Aro, that's not why I'm here." I replied simply.

Aro's jovial face fell a little before he grinned. I could see the hard look in his eyes which I had seen a number of times over the years I lived here with them. I knew he wanted Emmett for his strength, Jasper because of his talent of manipulating emotions and Edward because of his mind reading abilities, but unfortunately for him, and fortunately for me, neither of them had any desire to work for the Volturi.

"Then why are you here Carlisle?" Caius asked in a cold voice as he passed me, following Marcus to the far side of the room. Marcus had already left through the door he'd left open behind him.

"I was passing through the city, so I thought I'd come and see my old friends. Obviously I picked a bad day." I added, referring to what little I had seen in the coliseum and what I knew had eventually happened.

"There's never a bad day Carlisle." Aro said as he sat and gestured for me to sit on the chair beside them. The door on the far side of the room closed with a click after Caius just as I took my seat beside Aro.

"So, you caught some of the trial?" Aro asked in a friendly tone as he crossed his hands in his lap.

"I saw some, of course." I replied. I remembered the way Aro had looked so exited about the trial and the young girl's torture. I kept silent for a while, knowing that I couldn't afford to loose my composure with him.

"So you didn't see it all dear friend?" Aro asked without waiting for my response, he continued. "Well, now I know that this is an empty offer, but there's a mass feast in a few weeks." He said it as if there would be a feast of wild boar instead of humans.

"You don't have to do this Aro." I replied as I imagined what would happen. I had left the coven not long after the last feast I had seen. It had been the first and last for me to witness and I didn't want to see this one, let alone have it go ahead. It would be a blood bath where raging vampires would gorge and feast on poor, helpless humans for their own perverse pleasure.

"Yes I do Carlisle. I really do need to do this." Aro said in a chilling tone. "I feel as if my coven isn't as strong as it used to be. I know Chelsea is doing her bit to keep us strong…but it's not the same." Aro said as he stared blankly ahead.

Poor Chelsea had worked for the Volturi for a long while now. She and her mate Afton for company, but she was still lumbered with the task of keeping the Volturi bond strong. If she loosened her hold on the vampire's loyalties, the whole coven could fall and Marcus, Caius and Aro would be in big trouble.

Aro brought me from my thoughts as he continued to talk. "I need to show the others that we are the ancients and we are the rulers. After a few nomads are destroyed, the other vampires out there will remember our power and that we are in charge." The way he spoke sounded almost feverish. He became alive, his eyes bright with excitement before he relaxed back in his chair.

"There's no point in me arguing. I'll make sure I won't be here when it all takes place, I want no part in it all dear friend." I told Aro calmly, as I imagined the uproar of fleeing vampires and the terror that would reign down after the event. I wouldn't be surprised if a few unlucky humans got caught up in the whole thing. Not that Aro would mind too much.

We were both silent for a while, thinking our own thoughts. I knew I had to get Emmett, Edward and Jasper away from here with me as soon as possible. The killings were a few weeks away, but I wanted no part in this at all. I didn't want to be tied into anything that they orchestrated. I wanted to be home with my Esme in my arms when it all happened, safe in the knowledge that we were fine and that we had no blood on our hands.

"My girls are much like you." Aro suddenly said, awaking me from my stupor.

_His girls? Could he really mean the much doubted story was in fact true?_ "I've heard the rumours, but I know you can't believe all you hear." I said, hoping that Aro would open up for a change and let me in on a piece of the truth, although, not everything Aro said could be considered the truth.

"It is true Carlisle. I do possess three honey eyed beauties, but they are not working as well as I had hoped." His lips turned up in the ghost of a smile. His cryptic words were confusing.

"How do you mean?" I asked. I was intrigued that three 'vegetarian' vampires could cope with their diet as I had done in this castle. I had no idea if there were any more vampires who opted for the more humane way of living, but I was pleased if there were.

"They are not the most co-operative of vampires." Aro said simply in response. I remained silent. I had no idea whether to believe that or not. If a vampire was granted the honour of joining the Volturi, they had to be obedient. If these three women weren't, then they had to be extremely gifted in order for them to get away with it.

"I don't want to destroy them" Aro shrugged as if he were talking about a plate that had a small chip in it. "It would be a shame, a waste to be without the three of them. We'll see how they behave within the next decade, see if they learn to do the right thing, and listen to me, and follow me." Aro said with the hint of a smile playing at his lips as he finished. Oh yes, the girls would have to obey or face the consequences. Aro thrived on leadership, being in charge and powerful. I hoped no harm would come to the three women.

"You can't keep them here if they aren't happy Aro." I said, speaking my mind.

Aro looked at me sharply before he spoke. "Yes I can. I found them; they belong to me and they do as I say. They'll see soon enough. They will obey once they see what I am capable of after the feast and after we kill a few more nomads."

"Why the nomads? What have they done?" I asked. The young girl that had been on trial today had clearly been an unlucky nomad.

"The insolent vampire you saw today almost killed a woman in broad daylight." Aro spoke with so much vehemence in his voice. Clearly, here, I could see his point. The one and only rule was in place so that humans didn't know about us, and today the young girl had become precariously close to exposing us. But, the 'few more' Aro would kill were a mystery to me. I hadn't heard anything about what they had done wrong.

"The rest of the nomads, well…we'll think of some reason." He said absently with a wave of his arm. So, Aro would kill innocent beings for the sake of killing. It didn't surprise me but it was so unjust.

"I want the other covens out there to know that we mean business. I will not have our existence brought to light as almost happened today. They all need to learn who's in charge and those who are disobedient will be sure to suffer." Aro said as he clamped his hands on the arms of his chair. The excitement in him was frightening as it mixed with his anger. I could see that he was a hopeless case. He was adamant that this would happen and I was sure that there would be nothing I could do alone to stop this. I was sure that the only way to put a stop to all of this would be to raise an army, and that was impossible.

"Aro, you are alone in this endeavour as far as I am concerned. I have heard enough for one day. I will leave, leave this city with those dear to me and vow not to return for a very long while. I can not pretend that I accept what you will do and so I openly show my displeasure in this way. I will not cause any commotion, no scenes, but you will not hear from me for a long time." I said as calmly as I could, but even I could hear the distaste in my voice.

"How dare you look down at me Carlisle, after everything we have done for you here?" Aro retorted as he stood, sending his chair crashing back behind him.

"I do not look down at you Aro, but I cant be here when all of this comes together. It is inhumane in my eyes, that is all I know." I spoke calmly now, knowing that Aro was bubbling with anger. His eyes shone blood red with anger.

"Inhumane Carlisle? Every one of us lost our humanity when we became what we are today. No matter how hard you try, you are not humane, you never will be!" Aro called after me as I walked away.

"Then I will do my best to keep trying Aro. With this endless time we are sentenced to, I try my best to better myself, not to become worse. I will not let the instinct inside fester and poison me when I have already shown how a strong mind and some hard work can bring about some good." I snapped. I could not understand how Aro could be so high and mighty and then not use his power for good, only for bad. They all acted as though they were positioned as the head of the Volturi and were fair and respectful, but they were anything but.

"You have made your message loud and clear Carlisle. I expect you out of my City by the weeks end." He replied simply, with a snap before turning his back to me.

I left the room and walked along another long dark corridor before reaching a sort of reception area. I knew Gianna was there from the sound of her beating heart and from hearing her voice, but there was another young brunette there that I had not seen before.

I calmed myself and acted normal. "Goodbye Gianna" I called as I strode past the desk where I knew she was bent under. I glanced at the young vampire and smiled as I noticed she had the same amber eyes as my family and I had. She was obviously one of Aro's trio.

"Ohhh!" Gianna called quickly behind me. I heard a bump and as her heart accelerated quickly before she called breathlessly, "Bye Carlisle!" before I left.

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I hope it came out alright, Aro hasn't been the easiest of people to work with in this chapter I'm afraid…


	4. Alcove

_Disclaimer- I own nothing._

**Okay, here's the next chapter. I just want to mention now that the next chapter following this one will be in Jasper's POV. It is relevant for me to do so, otherwise I wouldn't. Honestly. One of my biggest hates is to read the same chapter twice from different POV's, but I cant see any other way around it I'm afraid. Jasper's POV in the next chapter is just as important as Bella's is in this one. **

**(And yes, that means that I do have the next chapter written up and almost finished) :)**

**So, without further ado, here's the next instalment. (I love this one personally)**

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Alkaline Trio- 'Poison'

**Bella POV.**

I left the reception area immediately. Aro had told me that we could go out tonight, but I also knew that if I hung about, he could always slip back and tell me differently.

My feet carried me quickly up our turret while I wondered if it had been Carlisle, the stranger, who had put Aro in such a bad mood. There was something sinister about the man, but I didn't know what.

I pushed my thoughts aside as I entered our turret home. "Girls! You owe me one!" I called as I slowly slinked my way over to the sofa.

"Is it true? What pixie here saw?" Rosalie asked from the upper floor as she pointed lazily toward Alice who was also looking down at me.

"Did pixie here see-" I began before I was cut off.

"Pixie here has a name damn it!" Alice snapped before she cat-walked her little frame along the landing and sauntered down stairs.

"Sorry…Alice…" Rosalie replied sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes Rosalie Lillian Hale…" Alice said sweetly before turning with a sly grin on her face to look at Rose.

"Move it little one, let Bella finish her story." Rosalie sighed as she followed Alice down the stairs and effectively ended their fake bickering.

"Aro's letting us out tonight. He was in a really bad mood, so I thought I might as well ask. You know how he gets, it's either yes, no, or off with your head, so I took my chances." I explained.

"Well done girl. And its Felix taking us?" Rosalie asked as she looked hesitantly between Alice and myself.

We both nodded our heads in affirmation in the same time as Rosalie sat back and relaxed.

"Allowed out to play two nights in the same week. We are lucky ducks…" Rose grinned as she stretched and toyed with her long hair.

**Alice POV.**

For some, unexplainable reason, I was extremely excited about tonight. I hadn't had any visions of what would happen, but there was some sort of electrical current running through me. Something was making me buzz more than usual, making me wonder if something big would happen tonight.

I didn't breathe a word to the girls once we were ready. I didn't want to confide in them without having any vision to rely on. I didn't want to tell them that something big was going to happen tonight when I wasn't even sure and get their hopes up or make them worry. I wanted to enjoy tonight with the girls and I secretly wondered as we went to find Felix, how many more nights like these did we have left?

We found Felix in one of the lesser used rooms near the car park. He greeted us with compliments before another guard crossed our path. We smiled gently to him as his face set in a dark scowl and he ordered us 'three whore's' to get into the back of the car and to 'shut the hell up'.

Once we were inside Felix turned to us apologetically. "Sorry…I didn't mean a word I said…" he apologised. We assured him that it was fine and it was only the part of the job for him. Poor Felix was big and strong, and had a heart of gold, unlike many of the guards at the castle. This was what set him apart from the others and made him trustworthy to us, although we knew that we could never confide in him about our hope of escape. We never really knew when or if Aro read the memories of the guards like he'd wanted to do with us, but we couldn't risk it.

We were soon pulled up, outside the club and then we were inside, without having to queue out with the humans. Felix left us the moment we entered and escaped to a quiet corner of the room where he knew he would be left alone for the night. We all headed to a comfy seating are before Rosalie traipsed off in order to get us drinks.

Bella and I sat in a comfortable silence, surveying the room while I thought and waited for Rosalie to return. We had been here countless times over the years and nothing had changed much in all that time either, yet, remarkably, something still felt funny and strange tonight. I still had no idea what it was. As I sat there silent and still, I closed my eyes and tried to summon up some sort of vision, but nothing concrete came to me, only some blurred images which made no sense at all.

Rosalie returned a few minutes later carrying a tray with our drinks on them expertly. She sat down beside us before we began to talk about the trial we had borne witness today.

**Bella POV.**

The club was full now and I was sure that the place was straining at its seams. The promotional half price drinks had drawn rowdy youths here like bees to honey.

Personally, I felt fine, thanks to being immortal, but the air in here was humid, heavy, and musty with the scent of the sweating bodies around me. Those sweating humans were all baking in the cramped club and yet, a large percentage of people still opted to dance. I slipped my way through the bodies, making sure to touch as little of them as possible. I cheated a little and threw up my shield as a precaution, keeping people from touching me.

The masses of scents were almost overwhelming in here, and yet, they didn't seem so appealing when mixed with tobacco and alcohol. The overpowering aroma's of both seemed to mask out the humans scent, making the thought of drinking anyone's blood no more appealing than drinking the blood of an alley cat.

I stood behind a pillar, peeking my head around it and sneaking glances at Felix and Demitri, where I could see them clearly. The both of them were on the far side of the room, talking to one another while watching young, scantly dressed women pass with hungry stares. I was glad to see that the women kept as wide a berth as possible from them as they passed. The pair looked sinister in their long black hooded cloaks. They clearly didn't understand that dressing down would help them blend in, to look less conspicuous, but Alice had given up trying with Felix and hadn't bothered with Demitri. Thankfully, the setting of a club wasn't the most likely place for someone to grow suspicious of them. To the hazy minded inhabitants of this place, they just looked like two weird gothic middle aged men who probably had nowhere else to go on a Saturday night.

I quickly moved and leant back against a wall which hid me from their view. I wondered why Demitri was here. Felix was supposed to guard us, alone, but Demitri had turned up not long ago. I had been on high alert since I had caught sight of him and had yet found Alice and Rosalie. I was hoping from my spot here on the outskirts of the dance floor, that I would find them.

While I stood there, staring blankly ahead, I began to panic at what may await us when we got back to the castle. Did Aro somehow know of our weaning loyalty to the coven? Did he know of our plan of escape? I wondered what fate awaited us upon our return after the black mood he had been in when he'd granted us the luxury of being allowed out tonight again.

I was sure that little Jane would take pleasure in torturing Alice and Rosalie if I was taken far enough from them for my shield to prove useless. I knew that Jane had been itching to torture us since we arrived, but she had been forbidden to by Aro from day one, not that it stopped her getting Rosalie that one time.

And what about Alec? We knew what the kid could do, but I doubted whether anyone but Aro knew what that little freak could really do. I felt myself flood with terror. If Alec was trained and pushed, I was sure his power could be strengthened to something much worse than it was now. I sometimes wondered that if the twins were pushed, could they subject a person to enough torture to drive them to insanity?

I blinked as I pondered, while trying to draw my mind away from those thoughts and to something else.

I caught a glimpse of a young man coming my way; his head bent and turned the other way. I turned my head to the left and noticed that he was heading for the alcove beside me. The fickle human must be like the others who kept sneaking into the black darkness to jack up most likely.

My head suddenly snapped up at the sound of a woman's voice. I couldn't be too sure, but for a moment, I thought I'd heard Alice. I felt the familiar feeling of fear wash over me at the prospect of Demitri spotting them. There had to be a reason he was here tonight. He was supposed to be on duty back at the castle.

I took a step forward, ready to go and look for Alice and Rosalie but accidentally bumped my shoulder with the man that had been coming my way. "Oh...sorry…" I only managed to speak those words before I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist and pull me back. I was pushed back into a wall so quickly that I had no idea what was happening. I realised that we must be in the alcove from the darkness. Thankfully, being a vampire had its benefits. I could see just as clearly here as I had been able to see out there.

I felt a hand wrap around my throat, keeping me pinned to the wall. "Why are you scared?" the man asked, his face annoyingly close to mine. I felt the grip on my throat tighten and I felt fear flood through me again. Had Aro found out our plan to escape soon? Was this man sent by Aro to help Felix and Demitri take us out, or take us back to the coven for judgment day?

The man kept his hand tight around my throat and I had to gasp for enough air to fill my lungs in order to speak. "I know what you are…" I choked before I swung an arm out to strike the guy.

A strong hand caught my arm. "Don't bother, I'm one of you and stronger." He sighed as he held my hand back against the wall as he did with my throat.

I stopped struggling then. He was a vampire, and close to the setting of our coven. The Volturi were a massive coven and I realised that this man must be part of the Volturi also. Maybe he was a new recruit that I hadn't seen before, but to whom else would he belong?

"Tell me what's got you so scared…Now…Tell me…" the man commanded impatiently as he stood closer to me. He pushed my head up and stared into my eyes. "I can feel your fear…" he whispered intensely. I realised that his eyes were the same colour as mine, not the blood red of every other vampire we'd ever met before.

I felt a sudden wave of fear hit me square in the chest, drowning me with terror. I stared back at the vampire, wanting to kill him, for he had obviously been the one to inflict me with that feeling.

"What do you care?" I hissed before I threw up my shield, something I should have done a lot sooner.

I crossed my arms across my chest and smirked at the young blonde as he stumbled and regained his balance. He stared back at me with agitation in his eyes before he swiped his hand in the air, only to have it hit my invisible shield. "You shouldn't have done that…" the guy whispered loud enough for me to hear. "I only wanted to help…" he added as he stared back at me with a look of sorrow on his face.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Yeah, it really looked like you wanted to help. Hauling me into the dark, holding me by my throat…" I sneered as I glared back at him.

His hands settled on my shield, as if he were leaning on it. He looked at me with a look of awe and even fear. The scene around me melted away until I could only see the stranger's intent eyes and the blackness around us. "I've not sensed terror like yours in years…" he whispered fervently. I felt my panic spike. There was something in the way he looked at me and spoke that told me that this man had seen a lot of terror and been around fear for a long time. Somehow he found my terror something that he wanted to know more about.

"Leave me alone…get away if you have any sense at all." I whispered back harshly. This man was evidently not part of the Volturi. The eyes told me that much. Rosalie, Alice and I had fought months and months for Aro to finally leave us alone to live on the diet we chose. I was sure that Aro wouldn't be pleased with any more vampires following the 'weaker way of life' as he called it. Especially not a young, strong man such as the one that stared back at me now.

"Please…" the man whispered desperately once more.

I strengthened my shield and brought it in tighter to me. The guy's pleading look vanished only to be replaced by relief as he walked toward me. The moment he got into close proximity to me, he was pushed back by my shield. It was around me, just enough to let me walk through the crowd without anyone noticing an unusual gap around me.

I could see that the man looked cheated. I knew that he had thought that I was letting him in. I was sure that if he could feel my fear earlier, then he could sense my guilt now, even with my shield up. I didn't look at him again as I walked out from the darkness and across the dance floor.

Alice and Rosalie were easily found this time, bartering with a young barman.

Alice turned and saw me, her eyes glazing over.

"What happened to you? Alice said she saw a flash of you and some guy, but she couldn't make anything out." Rosalie asked. Alice snapped out of her trance just as Rose finished talking.

"Awww…why do we have to leave?" She huffed childishly as she hopped off the bar stool and landed gracefully beside me. "I can't see what happened with you…tell me…I don't like being blind…" Alice demanded as she walked ahead of me. I made sure to walk beside her and thankfully Rosalie lined up on my other side. The shield wrapped around the three of us as we made our way out. I made sure to follow the girls and trust them while I concentrated on keeping up the shield.

Unfortunately Felix and Demitri had obviously seen our hasty departure and were outside with us in under a minute.

"What did you do this time? Bite some poor fucking human?" Demitri snapped as he shoved Rosalie's shoulder. I had foolishly let my shield down, but it was quickly up again, knocking both Felix and Demitri to the floor. I sent Felix an apologetic smile when Demitri wasn't looking. He rolled his eyes at me. I was obviously forgiven.

Rosalie threw a slew of coarse words at Demitri, insulting him in every way her articulate vocabulary let her. "Fucking murderer…" she finished while spitting some venom in his direction.

Demitri threw his head back and laughed. His eyes flashed with fury as he looked back at us. "You call me a murderer? It's our way of life bitch…where's your spine?" He teased. "Here, I'll show you just how easy it is…why feed on animals when worthless humans are in such abundance and so easy to find…" he sneered as he walked away, headed toward a young woman who was clearly intoxicated.

"Demitri…" Rosalie growled his name and stared hard at him. Alice and I both laughed as we watched him obviously, reluctantly turning around and heading to the car with a sour look on his face. Rosalie and her tenacity were forcing Demitri to do things her way.

Obviously, Demitri hadn't been sent after us in any way or he would have had us back in the castle before we could turn around and he would definitely be smirking and gloating also. Demitri had come out tonight for a different reason, but he was supposed to be on duty tonight. I only hoped he would be punished accordingly if he really had disobeyed Aro.

Demitri sat in the front passenger seat while Felix and the three of us followed. Felix drove, with a smug look on his face. Alice, Rose and I sat in the back, with the partition glass up to block the two from our conversation.

"Bella, why did we have to leave?" Alice asked as she sprawled out, her head in my lap and her feet on Rosalie's.

"Someone came up to me, grabbed me, and threw me against a wall…" I told them while frowning at the memory. I couldn't work out why Alice couldn't see what had happened, but maybe even she had a few glitches.

I went on to explain to them what exactly had happened and what had been said. "He was really hot, I saw that much…you could have introduced me to him…" Alice pouted as she played with her spiky hair and gave me a fake sullen look.

I slapped a hand to my head theatrically. "Damn it…you're right. I should have introduced you, somewhere between him grabbing me and holding me to the wall by my throat I suppose…silly me…the thought completely slipped my mind…" I teased while Alice rolled her eyes before shutting them.

We were soon back at the castle and in the underground car park. The three of us slipped out hastily and I threw up my shield quickly, making sure to topple Demitri over again, but spare Felix. "Fucking bitch…I'll get you one day and you wont have time for the shield…" he shouted over his shoulder as he stalked away in the other direction.

"Good luck asshole!" I shouted back.

"Felix…why was Demitri with you tonight?" Alice asked. I looked at Rosalie and we both shook our heads. Alice had her arm linked in Felix's who was walking with her as if she were the queen on his arm. The guy was a good guard and could be stern with us when he had to be, but at moments like there I realised that he was the most trusted person we had. In front of the others, he did play the role of the harsh guard he had to seem, but the three of us knew that wasn't his nature.

"I was assigned the duty of watching you for tonight, but Demitri decided to tag along. He was ordered to keep an eye on Alec and Jane…" he muttered, his sentence falling away awkwardly.

"God knows what those two have done now…" Rose groaned.

The last time the twins had been left alone to their own devices, they had been found with a number of adults in one of the lower chambers, drained dry. They'd gone out that night and put on the 'lost child' act only to lure them back to torture and drain them dry.

Aro, being the sick fuck that he could be found it entertaining and the twins weren't penalised nor was Demitri, who had been the one to leave them alone in the first place, to go and chase after a new female member of the coven.

This time, I had no idea what the twins could have done. I was sure that after almost a decade that their games would be more advanced, more lethal than those they'd showed last time. This afternoon had been enough of a show.

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Alerts and Fave's are good...Review's are fantabulous!


	5. The Other Perspective

_Disclaimer-I own nothing._

**I'd just like to start with a message to someone who named themselves as 'Anonymous Criticizer' who reviewed two previous chapters of this story. I wouldn't have to post this publicly if the person had simply posted the reviews the normal way-I could have just replied.**

**First-this person picked up on something a lot of you have. The vampires do drink in this story, but what's stopping them? It's my story, I won't stop them. I'm sure that anyone who's read my other stories knows I don't go for the 'by the book' perfect, believable, realistic story lines. They're too boring for me, personally.**

**Secondly…and this is something that has me a little stumped. The reviewer commented twice on my mistake of Gianna being a vampire but with a beating heart…I NEVER SAID SHE WAS A VAMPIRE! Never once did I say that she was. I thought I made it blatantly clear that she was human…maybe some people are a little too slow to get the very, very clear hint. Just because the story's 'All Vampires' doesn't meant that every single one is.**

**Finally…if this story is so hard to read for you…why read it?**

**Okay, now, that got me a little peeved…but, now that its done with, lets get on with the show shall we?**

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Beyond All Reason – 'This September'

**Edward POV.**

"Pfft…I can do that…" Emmett boasted as he sneered at the television. He had been watching a young man walking over hot coals for a few seconds and was already imagining how he would best the human.

"Emmett…that guy is human, you're a vampire." I explained slowly. I had given up on trying to work his mind at times. It was almost impossible to understand his logic at times like these.

"Whatever human lover…" Emmett muttered under his breath before he aimed the remote at the TV and switched it to the next station.

Jacob was fast asleep in one of the bedrooms which linked in with our penthouse suite at the grand hotel. He had showered and gone straight to bed as soon as we arrived here and he hadn't even surfaced to eat yet, which showed just how tired he was.

Carlisle had already arranged a flight for Jacob to go home for the next afternoon and so now, all Jake had to do was wait.

Jasper was on the other side of the room, bent over a pile of books. He was reading up on the history of Italy, again, while I tried my best to read my book. Emmett's loud thoughts were a little hard to ignore, but I wouldn't let him get to me. After decades of living together as a family and being around others, I liked to think that I could tune in and out what I wanted to hear.

The time went by and I began to wonder what was taking Carlisle so long. He had gone to see the Volturi, but I hadn't thought that he would have been gone this long. I let myself listen in on Jake in the next room and I then realised he was talking to his father on the phone by now. I tuned back out and let myself get lost in my book once more, hoping the time would go by faster.

Darkness had crept in when I picked up the tenor of Carlisle's thoughts. I listened in and realised that he was reciting poems in his mind, one after the other. He was hiding something from me and doing a good job. I knew I would just confront him when he reached the room, so I remained silent while Emmett and Jacob arm wrestled at the table.

I glanced out the window and realised it was night time. The day had passed us by and Carlisle had been missing from us for almost the whole of it.

"Carlisle's on the way and he's not in a very good mood Emmett…" Jasper said pointedly as he played solitaire by himself beside the arm wrestlers.

"Okay, I win." Emmett declared as he let go of Jake's hand and stood up.

"No way! It was a draw…" Jake disagreed as he too stood up before stifling a yawn.

"You can have a rematch later, just kiss and make up for now, Carlisle's coming down the hall." Jasper urged. I watched Emmett frown and glare at Jasper before agreeing affably with Jacob that it had been a tie. It was obviously an agreement forced by Jasper.

Carlisle entered the room a few moments later with a face as dark as thunder. I knew not to even bother asking him what was on his mind. Neither of us had hardly ever seen Carlisle in a bad mood, but when we did, we knew to leave him alone to work things out in his mind.

"We'll be heading out soon…" Jasper said casually, although even I picked up on his hesitance.

"Have fun." Carlisle said calmly as he walked toward his room. "Emmett, behave." He added without turning around before he disappeared.

* * *

Later that night, Emmett, Jasper, Jake and I headed to a club not too far from the hotel.

"Ready for tonight, Jake?" Emmett asked excitedly as he turned in his seat. "Jacob…" Emmett practically growled his name under his breath before turning back around and sulking in the passenger seat behind me.

"What?" I asked before I rolled my eyes. I tried to hear Jacob's thoughts, but I only got flashes of trees, other wolves and disturbingly, of other naked men who had obviously just transformed. I could tell he was fast asleep before having to bother reading Jasper or Emmett's minds.

"He's been travelling a while. I could tell he was tired and didn't really want to go tonight…" Jasper informed us before the car lapsed into silence.

Once we arrived at the club, I parked around the corner while Jasper jarred Jacob awake. "Jake…do you want to come with us or stay here and sleep?" he asked slowly and clearly while continuing to shake one of Jake's shoulders.

"Stnnnmmseep" Jacob slurred before his head tipped and he began to snore.

"That's what I thought, let's go!" Emmett called from a few feet away. I could hear him, he was over Jacob's absence, he just wanted to get in there and soak up the atmosphere.

**Jasper POV.**

I quickly reeled once we stepped inside the club. "Wow…damn it…" I took a deep breath that I didn't need while I collected myself.

"I read your mind and I can read theirs…" Edward sighed in a sympathetic, yet regretful tone as he slapped a hand to my shoulder.

"Say no more." I laughed. "It really doesn't get any easier with time does it?" I asked, while referring to trying our best to ignore what our 'gifts' picked up. In my case, I was bombarded with mostly lust, along with a jumble of emotions which dipped and spiked erratically. I was going to have enough trouble keeping myself in control, letting my guard down would only make it more of a challenge.

"I think its getting worse…take me back to the days of courting and chaperones any day…" Edward replied wistfully before he laughed it off. He and I followed Emmett's bulking form to the bar soon after we'd got to grips with the emotions and thoughts about us.

As the night went on, I could feel the drunken lust swirl, making it feel as if there was a heavy oppressive cloud of it in the room. Normally, this would be torture, but the drunks' emotions were so warped and he drunks themselves in this place were so unappealing. It was easy to deflect the emotions around me.

The time went on, as it so rightly should do and Emmett and Edward left to go check up on Jake. I remained in the club, thinking it would be easier to deal with the emotions by staying, rather than going out and coming back in again. Edward let me know he was going to give Carlisle a call, while Emmett let me know that he was going to try and spook Jake.

I left them to it and relaxed in the darkest corner of the bar, watching the humans on the dance floor and traipsing awkwardly around the place.

A movement on the far side of the room caught my eye. I had seen a guy wearing a black cloak earlier in the night and had thought nothing of it, but now, there was another one beside him. The both of them were whispering and I couldn't make out what they were saying over the sound of the music, even with my heightened sense of hearing.

Just as I was about to go and get Edward to help me work out what made the men seem so strange, I was thrown off course with an enormous feeling of fear.

I turned my head, knowing exactly who was giving off the emotion. The force of it was so hard hitting that I was sure that I could have pin pointed that woman out of a crowd of thousands, but thankfully for me, she was relatively alone. The young brunette was pressed against a pillar and was sneaking peeks at the two men every few seconds.

All I could feel was her apprehension, her terror and utter fear. I wondered why the human would be so scared, but then I realised that something horrific could have happened to her at some point, no matter how perfect she looked right now. She turned and pressed her back to the pillar and took deep breaths while her eyes scanned the crowd frantically.

Even from where I was, I caught the strange tint to the colour of her eyes. I knew then that she was a vampire and that she must be like Carlisle and us somehow, otherwise, she wouldn't have coped with being in here with all these humans.

I got up from my seat and made my way toward the young woman. I passed through the dancing crowd as swiftly as I could, while still keeping to a human pace.

Her fear seemed encompassing. It was as if fear was her aura and it was all I could see and sense. I had sensed such feelings of terror before, but not in years and years. Not since way back in the terrible years I spent in the Civil War and so now, I was determined to do something, if only to stop her fear for my own peace of mind.

The brunette ahead of me was now pressed up against the wall at the edge of the room. I had seen the black archway beside her from where I had been sitting and had formed my plan; I just hoped that there would be no interruptions.

She blinked a few times, her large amber eyes seeming to be staring off to someplace far away. I didn't think she noticed that she was biting on her plump bottom lip, drawing my attention to it. I didn't entertain the thought of what it would feel like for me to be biting on her lip, well, I did, but I quickly shoved it aside and let my eyes fall from her pretty face.

My eyes caught sight of a long, creamy looking throat and I quickly turned my head and looked away. The lust from the people in here must have been affecting me more that I had previously thought.

The sound of a woman's beautiful, musical voice in the background caught my attention for a moment. There was something about the voice which made my breath catch in my throat. I quickly expelled the pointless air I was inhaling as my shoulder bumped the beautiful vampire. The slight jar to my body got me back in action.

"Oh...sorry…" I cut the woman's apology off as I hooked my arm around her waist and took a few large strides and pulled the woman back with me, taking us into the darkness of the alcove.

I pushed her back against the wall with a little more force than I had intended, but she was a vampire, I knew she could handle it. She didn't protest and her feeling of fear dwindled a little once I brought her into the darkness with me. Obviously, I wasn't as scary as the other cloaked men.

I began to let my arm loosen from her waist and then was hit once more with a wave of anxiousness. I grew impatient and frustrated with this woman's fearful moods. I had felt these feelings for long enough before and I had no idea what could bring such terror to a vampire, but I knew that I didn't want to sense them much longer. Quickly, without much thought I clamped my hand around her throat and felt a stab of regret at my actions. In the background I could hear the faint sound of a scuffle occurring and I guessed that the anger must have been seeping into me.

"Why are you scared?" I asked quickly. I almost smiled as I felt a wave of annoyance hit me. The girl kept her face composed even as I had my hand around her throat and my body close to hers.

I tightened my grip on her throat and got a rational response for once. She actually felt scared when I did that. I kept up the pressure, wanting to see some more rational reactions from her before I would let go of her.

I watched her gasp for air and knew she was about to speak. We didn't need air for much else. "I know what you are…" She choked out with a hint of a smile on her lips. She felt some satisfaction before she tried to hit me.

My hand caught her arm before she had much chance to move. I felt her satisfaction morph to agitation as I replied coolly, "Don't bother, I'm one of you and stronger."

I held both her arm and throat against the wall now. I couldn't help but realise just how perfect she looked. In the darkness of the alcove I could still see her, but the darkness cast a different sort of look to her. The dark background seemed to make her creamy white skin stand out more and make our closeness even more noticeable to me.

I watched an array of emotions cross her face as she stood there in my clutches, unresponsive and silent. Her emotions were too flighty for me to cipher and I was soon agitated again.

"Tell me what's got you so scared…Now…Tell me…" I stepped closer to her, hoping to maybe intimidate her a little seeing as I was much taller than her.

I moved my thumb from the side of her throat and slackened my hold a little. I pushed her jaw, making her look up at me as I whispered in all honestly to her, "I can feel your fear…"

I threw back at her the full force of the fear I had felt so far. She looked at me with a murderous expression before answering back with a sharp, "What do you care?"

Things happened so fast, I had no idea what had happened until I was regaining my balance a few short feet away from the brunette. The shit eating grin she had on her face matched the smug way she felt. She had her arms crossed and she was leant back against the wall, a perfect picture of confidence. I had no idea what had sent me sprawling, but I was about to find out if my guess was correct.

I slashed my hand through the air in front of me and just as I expected, I hit some invisible shield. This vampire had a talent. I wondered why she had been so slow to use her shield before hand, but I decided to keep quiet. Now was not the time to ask her that. This woman was shutting down and obviously now had the upper hand.

"You shouldn't have done that…" I whispered. "I only wanted to help…" I added regrettably as I realised that I could no longer sense how she felt. There was no way for me to manipulate her any longer and make her talk to me.

She looked incredulous. "Yeah, it really looked like you wanted to help.

Hauling me into the dark, holding me by my throat…" she jibed as she glared at me.

I let the memories of all the fear I had felt from her tonight come back to me. The most drastic feeling of fear came from when she had been out in more sight, watching the two hooded men. I leant forward on her shield and told her as convincingly as I could "I've not sensed terror like yours in years…" I hoped she believed me, I needed her to believe me, but whether she did was another thing.

"Leave me alone…get away if you have any sense at all." The girl said almost desperately as she frowned back at me.

"Please…" I whispered pleadingly back at her. If only I could find out what had her so scared. She had ploughed up my memories of the war with her fear. The memories of all those vampires battling, reluctant, knowing they'd die if they fought or not.

From under my hands, I felt the woman's shield shrinking. I sighed in relief as I realised that she was letting it down and hopefully going to let me in. I walked to her but was promptly pushed back again when I obviously got too close. She had her shield reigned in, but not taken away. I looked back at her with what I knew was a disappointed look.

The woman walked by me, with her head down. I had to smile once she'd gone. She had enough grace and in some way, heart to show some guilt. At least she knew she'd cheated me.

I remained in the dark for a few moments, thinking over what just happened. As soon as I was ready, I stepped back out from the alcove and looked up. The two hooded figures were gone. I hoped that the men weren't after the young girl I had just accosted, but it made sense.

I cursed as I realised that I could have followed her out and could have at least helped her escape from the men.

Thankfully, the crowd parted easily as I rushed out from the club. I was hit with fresh air once I stepped outside and finally felt my mind clear and my emotions come back into check.

I rounded the building and found Edward and Emmett beside our car, where they said they would be. Edward was on the phone and Emmett was leant against the car with his arms crossed over his huge chest as he stared up at the starry sky.

I quickly looked around, trying to see if I could catch any sign of something peculiar or something that linked with the brunette vampire, but I saw nothing.

"Hey Jasper, what's got you so jumpy?" Emmett asked lazily as he stared at me. Curiosity radiated from him and I knew I'd have to explain.

"Did you see a girl leave the club a few minutes ago?" I asked.

"Jasper, we're at the side of the club, we can't see the exit…" Emmett explained hesitantly while I stopped scanning around. There was nothing to see here.

"What girl Jasper?" Edward asked seconds later. I realised he'd hung up and was now joining the conversation.

"A vampire, like us…brunette…she was scared but I don't fully understand why." I summarised as I let a few snippets of what had happened play in my mind for Edwards benefit.

"We didn't see anyone Jasper." Edward confirmed once more. "Who were those guys in the cloaks?" He asked as he opened the car door and slipped inside.

I shrugged my shoulders, feeling frustrated. I knew that we had to head back to the hotel immediately for Carlisle to help us.

"They must have been members of the Volturi…"I answered slowly as I speculated the idea. "I didn't get a look at their faces, but who else would be in cloaks? She wouldn't be afraid of humans anyway, would she?" I queried as I sat back in the car. Jacob snored loudly beside me, oblivious to everything that was going on.

"Carlisle will help us…" Edward muttered as he started the car and pulled away from the parking lot, his tires screeching.

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I hope you liked it. I know it's a different POV to the last chapter, but I tried my best to make it interesting and for you to see what Jasper felt.

Review, let me know how you think its going.


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